Fed up with Facebook, US fund managers look for alternatives
The social media company's losses are becoming other companies' gains
New York — Concerns about Facebook's declining profit margins and battered reputation have prompted 93 US mutual funds to completely sell out of their positions in the company so far in 2018, exacerbating a roughly 35% decline in the social media company's share price from its highs, according to Refinitiv’s Lipper research service. The selling by fund firms including Fidelity Investments, The Hartford and Putnam Investments combined for a total of nearly 12-million shares, and came amid similar moves to liquidate positions in the company by prominent growth-focused hedge funds. Jana Partners and Third Point LLC, for instance, together sold nearly 3.7-million Facebook shares in the third quarter, according to securities filings. Funds that have dumped Facebook, whose shares helped lead the broad US market higher in the past two years, are now favouring investments ranging from payments companies such as Visa and Worldpay to consumer companies including PepsiCo and Chef’s Warehouse b...
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